Exercise Noble Partner 2017 was launched on July 30 at the Vaziani military base near Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili attended the opening ceremony. A total of 2,800 soldiers from five NATO member countries (the United States, Britain, Germany, Turkey, and Slovenia) and three NATO partner countries (Ukraine, Armenia, and Georgia) are taking part in the drills, which have seen U.S. and German heavy military machinery being deployed on Georgian soil for the first time. (RFE/RL's Georgian Service)